# If he had seen the sawdust, he wouldn't have died **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477 "2002-08-12T03:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/21 "2002-08-12T05:15:45Z")
i’m going to bed now…if anyone would like to post questions in my absence, i’ll answer them in the morning 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/22 "2002-08-12T05:32:15Z")
Did he slip in some kindergardner’s vomit? ---
**Author:** ![Pessor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pessor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pessor)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/23 "2002-08-12T09:47:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jk1245 \* > \*\*Did he slip in some kindergardner’s vomit? \*\* Big funny. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/24 "2002-08-12T09:56:15Z")
Hmmm, you really need to graph the answers like you do in a logic puzzle. Is he a lumberjack? ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/25 "2002-08-12T10:12:15Z")
I just had a better thought. Was he a circus performer? ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/26 "2002-08-12T10:17:31Z")
A very short circus performer ---
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/27 "2002-08-12T13:16:31Z")
Did he have a match? NO Would he have had to look down to see the sawdust, or up? DOWN Is alcohol involved in any way? NO So, sawdust on the floor, and he died because he didn’t notice it. Was the floor sawn partially through, so that it collapsed under him? NO Did he not know there were termites, and the house fell on him? NO Does he work in a sawmill? NO Was he blind? NO Is he a lumberjack? NO Was he a circus performer? YYYYYES And NO to your spoiler grim ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/28 "2002-08-12T13:36:40Z")
I reckon it isn’t that he failed to see sawdust, but that there was no sawdust to see. ---
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/29 "2002-08-12T13:38:10Z")
lol nonono there was sawdust 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/30 "2002-08-12T13:58:23Z")
I [cheated](http://www.mala.bc.ca/~black/explgame.htm). **Don’t** click on the link if you want to figure out the puzzle “honestly” ---
**Author:** ![Mandicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Mandicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandicus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/31 "2002-08-12T14:07:07Z")
Did the sawdust that he had to look down to see actually fall from somewhere above him? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ace_of_Swords)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/32 "2002-08-12T14:08:30Z")
Does his job involve flying through the air? Does his job involve animals? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/33 "2002-08-12T14:31:27Z")
I clicked **beagledave** ’s link. Good friggin’ luck, folks! ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/34 "2002-08-12T15:14:52Z")
Had the sawdust been placed there deliberately (as opposed to being there as the byproduct of some activity)? ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/35 "2002-08-12T15:21:36Z")
Damn - I tried to think a little too laterally, and I lost my balance. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/36 "2002-08-12T15:36:49Z")
apparently I was the only one that thought the OP was referring to [this](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/news/2002/08/11/priestley_injured_ap/) ---
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/37 "2002-08-12T16:05:49Z")
Did the sawdust that he had to look down to see actually fall from somewhere above him? NO Does his job involve flying through the air? NO Does his job involve animals? NO Had the sawdust been placed there deliberately (as opposed to being there as the byproduct of some activity)? YESISH (it was a deliberate byproduct of some activity) ---
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/38 "2002-08-12T16:08:13Z")
**beagledave** that is not the answer I was thinking of. That is the answer to another brainteaser that I’ve heard, but was worded differently (when I heard it). It’s a little simpler than that one 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/39 "2002-08-12T16:15:49Z")
The guy was a circus performer who didn’t know his wife was having an affair. He came into his home, unsuspecting, and was killed by his wife’s lover. If he had seen the sawdust, he would have known that his wife’s lover, Pinocchio, had been given a handjob by his wife, and he wouldn’t have gone in so innocently. ---
**Author:** ![Mandicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Mandicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandicus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477/40 "2002-08-12T16:34:47Z")
Was the activity that produced the sawdust a normal occurance at this performer’s circus? Did the person(s) who performed the activity that created the sawdust mean for the circus performer to die? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-he-had-seen-the-sawdust-he-wouldnt-have-died/123477.md?page=3)